Location
Northampton, England
Salary
£57,528 - £64,750 per annum pro rata
Profession
Programme manager
Grade
Band 8
Deadline
21 Oct 2026
Contract Type
6 months (Fixed Term - until 31st March 2027)
Posted Date
07 Oct 2026
Medical Protection — the side of locally employed doctors from £83

Job requirements

Essential

23 listed

Requirements the employer expects applicants to meet.

  • Skills

    Demonstrate effective analytical and problem solving skills. Ability to analyse complex facts and situations and develop a range of options, coupled with the ability to respond to sudden unexpected demands.

  • Skills

    Able to empathise and build rapport with clinicians, front-line staff, managers and others, to influence, motivate and engage them into adopting new ways of working to improve service delivery.

  • Skills

    Demonstrates authoritative and democratic leadership encompassing energy and involvement in planning and managing change.

  • Skills

    Able to receive, process, summarise, interpret and communicate highly complex, sensitive and contentious information where there are barriers to acceptance and resistance to change.

  • Skills

    Strength of character to constructively challenge project leads and project managers where areas are not delivering against key milestones and project deadlines.

  • Skills

    Effective and adaptable interpersonal and influencing strategies including the ability to persuade others with personal conviction and facts.

  • Skills

    Communicate effectively to a range of groups and individuals in both verbal and written form. Excellent facilitation and presentation skills, with ability to manage varying levels of understanding.

  • Skills

    Accurate and advanced IT/keyboard skills including producing high level reports and presentations, with significant VDU use

  • Skills

    Proven ability to deliver sustainable transformational change rather than just undertaking incremental change.

  • Qualifications

    Masters level qualification in general or healthcare management, or relevant equivalent experience.

  • Qualifications

    Evidence of continuous professional development.

  • Experience & Knowledge

    Significant experience in managing major transformational change programmes and projects within the NHS or a comparable large organisation, preferably in a service related environment.

  • Experience & Knowledge

    Must have experience of managing internal and external stakeholder engagement, including managing relationships and coordinating work between cross-functional teams and third parties.

  • Experience & Knowledge

    Experience of leading and motivating teams to deliver to a high standard whilst under pressure and when facing changing circumstances.

  • Experience & Knowledge

    Experience supporting teams through a process of change, sensitively managing complex issues and managing where performance has not been met, including where that is unwelcome news

  • Experience & Knowledge

    Proven collaborative relationship engagement skills with both internal and external stakeholders at a senior level, including managing relationships and encouraging collaborative working between cross-functional teams, and with third parties.

  • Experience & Knowledge

    Experience of analysing areas of highly complex and multifaceted activity in relation to current performance to drive opportunities for future improvement.

  • Experience & Knowledge

    Demonstrable specialist knowledge and practical application of various best practice tools and techniques in project, programme and change management, service redesign, facilitation and service improvement.

  • Key Competencies/Personal Qualities and Attributes

    Passionate and committed to bring our Dedicated to Excellence values to life, improving the way we work with each other, particularly focusing on empowerment, equality diversity and inclusion of our staff, patients and service users.

  • Key Competencies/Personal Qualities and Attributes

    Able to withstand frequent demands for support from colleagues who are emotionally impacted by change.

  • Key Competencies/Personal Qualities and Attributes

    Deliver effectively: • Be proactive, forward thinking and comfortable working on own initiative. • Share creative and innovative ways of doing things with colleagues. • Understand the impact of own actions on the Group and others in the transformation team.

  • Key Competencies/Personal Qualities and Attributes

    Demonstrate accountability: • Exhibit the necessary level of drive, independence and objectivity required to perform the role effectively. • Be open to constructive challenge and look for ways to continually improve own performance, and that of others. • Flexible attitude and approach to work; willing, conscientious and adaptable.

  • Key Competencies/Personal Qualities and Attributes

    Display integrity: • Encourage trust through own actions. • Professional and positive approach. • Enthusiastic self-starter with a positive, committed and determined approach. • Be honest in dealings with others.

Desirable

2 listed

Additional qualities the employer would prefer.

  • Skills

    Knowledge and clear understanding of the background to, and aims of current healthcare policy in the NHS, with experience of interpreting and applying national guidance across the local health economy.

  • Qualifications

    Further specialist training relevant to the role, e.g. change management or project management qualification

Job overview

It is an exciting time to join the Family Health Operations Team as we continue to drive improvements across maternity, neonatal, paediatric and women's services, supporting the delivery of safe, effective and compassionate care for women, babies, children and families. This role will play a key part in leading and supporting the delivery of the Perinatal Improvement Programme across the Group, working collaboratively with clinical, operational and corporate teams to deliver sustainable improvements in quality, safety, patient experience and performance.

The Family Health Operations Team is responsible for leading service improvement, programme delivery, operational performance and transformational change across Family Health services. Working in partnership with clinical leaders and multidisciplinary teams, the post holder will support the development and delivery of key improvement initiatives arising from national guidance, regulatory requirements, clinical strategies and local priorities. The Perinatal Improvement Programme Manager will play a pivotal role in coordinating and delivering complex improvement workstreams, ensuring that transformation opportunities are identified, implemented and embedded to improve outcomes for women, babies and families across our counties

Main duties of the job

This fixed-term opportunity will support the delivery of the Perinatal Improvement Programme across University Hospitals of Northamptonshire. Working with maternity, neonatal, paediatric and women's health services, the post holder will drive improvements to enhance safety, quality, patient experience and operational performance for women, babies and families.

Working alongside the Head of Perinatal Clinical Governance & Quality Improvement, the post holder will coordinate improvement projects and transformation programmes across Family Health services. They will support implementation of national and local priorities, maternity and neonatal safety initiatives, regulatory requirements and quality improvement activities.

The role involves developing effective relationships with clinical and operational leaders to secure engagement and support sustainable change. The post holder will provide programme and change management expertise, helping teams deliver service improvements, pathway redesign and innovation.

Responsibilities include monitoring progress against objectives, managing risks and dependencies, overseeing programme governance, and producing reports and presentations for Trust committees and stakeholders. The post holder will work collaboratively across the organisation to support strategic objectives and improve outcomes for women, babies and families.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

For the detailed job description and main responsibilities, please see the attached Job Description and Person Specification.

Applicant requirements

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.

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Applying for this NHS job

This advert is for Programme Manager with Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust in Northampton, England. It is listed as a Band 8 Programme manager role. The advertised salary is £57,528 - £64,750 per annum pro rata. The contract type is 6 months (Fixed Term - until 31st March 2027). The application deadline is 21 Oct 2026.

Before you apply, compare the job description with the person specification and mirror the employer's essential criteria in your supporting information. Use the vacancy title, employer, location, salary, contract type, closing date and posted date (07 Oct 2026) to decide whether this role fits your current NHSjob search. If the employer can close applications early, prepare the application before the stated deadline rather than waiting for the final day.

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